Hi,

 

I have two budgies who I have fed paspalum to in the past. They seem to love it and it hasn't appeared to harm them. However, I was at the pet shop recently, and I was told not to feed paspalum to budgies as it is poisonous. Have other people found this? I have stopped feeding them paspalum just in case.

You should be very careful about paspalum if it’s clean it would be okay, but it is subject to ergot a fungus which it extremely toxic, so probably better to be safe if you don’t know what to look for.

You should be very careful about paspalum if it's clean it would be okay, but it is subject to ergot a fungus which it extremely toxic, so probably better to be safe if you don't know what to look for.

Great, thanks! I have found they love winter grass which is apparently safe. Does anyone know of any other grasses that are safe? (any pictures of those grasses would be useful too). I know that fruit and vegetables need to be given and I provide these, but my budgies won’t touch them. I need to give them some greens in the meantime and they love grasses so I want to keep going with that. I have provided gum leaves before and they love that so I’m going to try that again….

Most native plants are fine. Mine love spinach and corn on the cob. lately i pruned the top of some hedges that are native shrubs like callistemons and grevilleas. i gave them these - they love them.

I think most seeding grasses are safe just be careful they don’t come from areas where they can become contaminated, by traffic fumes, dogs etc…the main problem with recommending weeds is that they are called by different names in different places & by different people, so mistakes can easily be made. I feed a common weed in my area, that’s called Farmers Friend, as it’s very common here & the birds seem to love it, I read recently that humans can eat it safely too, on a site recommending edible plants. Milk thistles are also safe if you know what they are.

Yes i agree, my birds love winter grass, milk thistle and all other grasses that i get in the garden... another few favourites of thiers are carrot tops and carrots as a whole, lettuce, spinach as said before and i hear they like mint gum leaves i think they're called... they seem to like a bit of a chew on bottle brush blossoms and leaves also... and i beleive i've also heard hibiscus are safe to them also... but not positive on that one?